Enron Halts Online Trading Option for Commodities on Web Site
By Stephen Voss
Houston, Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp., which sought protection from its creditors Sunday, has halted online trading of commodities on its Web site and now requires buyers and sellers to phone the company directly to make a transaction.
EnronOnline, which once handled $2.8 billion in transactions a day as a buyer or seller, was offering markets today in 127 of the 1,700 products it normally provided on its Web site, spokesman Eric Thode said. The online business had previously accounted for about 60 percent of Enron's energy trading.
Former Enron customers say they have all but stopped trading on EnronOnline since Dynegy Inc. pulled out of a planned buyout of the company last week, which triggered a cash drain and forced Enron to file the largest U.S. bankruptcy ever. Some energy customers said they may be forced to write off past trades.
``We haven't been using it,'' said Bill McDonough, a natural gas trader at Consolidated Edison Co., a New York utility. ``Probably last Thursday was the last time we logged on. It is showing monthly quotes, but no daily trades on physical gas. And a disclaimer says if you are interested in a transaction, contact the Enron trading desk.''
The Web site includes a notice that posted prices for commodities were ``read only,'' which customers said means they can no longer make electronic transactions over the Internet as they once did.
``You can view markets on EnronOnline, but you can't trade on it,'' said Thomas Doherty, owner of P & C Trading LLC in Mamaroneck, New York.
With just $500 million left to fund operations, Enron yesterday won permission from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez to draw $250 million of as much as $1.5 billion in bankruptcy financing from a bank group led by J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank.
While Enron's bankruptcy reorganization was intended to restore confidence in its trading operations, users of its online system have yet to be convinced.
``I didn't even try to log in today,'' said Fred DeMaria, a natural gas trader at Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., owner of New Jersey's largest utility. |
